NG Mission Extension Vehicle

Flyaway

Flyaway

ACCESS: USAP
Senior Member
Joined
21 January 2015
Messages
14,989
Reaction score
24,203
It's an exciting development: the first time one satellite will dock with another and take over some of its functions.
 
It has been successfully launched but there’s now a fifteen hour trek to spacecraft separation.
 
Last edited:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1381809630909755392
View: https://mobile.twitter.com/planet4589/status/1381809630909755392


MEV-2 finally docked with IS10-02 in geostationary orbit at 1734 UTC Apr 12. (The
@northropgrumman
press release as 1.34pm EST, but they actually mean 1.34 pm EDT: https://news.northropgrumman.com/news/releases/northrop-grumman-and-intelsat-make-history-with-docking-of-second-mission-extension-vehicle-to-extend-life-of-satellite… )
Click to expand...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1381810291881738241
View: https://mobile.twitter.com/planet4589/status/1381810291881738241


(What is it with Americans not knowing how to write the time zone they are in? This is the 5th such mistake I've seen this month. Do they not teach you this in school? Daylight savings zones are PDT MDT CDT EDT, vs standard time zones PST MST CST EST)
Click to expand...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1381810716680806400
View: https://mobile.twitter.com/planet4589/status/1381810716680806400


(... and it *matters* particularly for the historical record - e.g. parts of the Mountain zone region - Arizona - are still on MST while other parts are on MDT. May not be obvious to someone years from now whether the writer was in such a locality. ...)
Click to expand...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1381811519378317313
View: https://mobile.twitter.com/planet4589/status/1381811519378317313


This rant brought to you by years of trying to convert missile and rocket launch times quoted in old newspaper articles and government documents and trying to convert them to UTC...
Click to expand...
 
1274-EX-CN-2022

Intelsat proposes to raise Galaxy 25 from its station-keeping box in geostationary orbit to 300- 330 km above the geostationary arc and drift for two years before docking with the MEV.

Galaxy 25 will drift approximately 4 degrees per day and be placed into sun acquisition mode. During this time, Intelsat will continue radiofrequency interference mitigation, close approach monitoring, and TT&C operations. Intelsat will also coordinate with other satellite operators throughout the drift. The estimated end of Galaxy 25’s maneuverable life for this drift as proposed is 2025.

After approximately two years of drifting, Galaxy 25 will dock with the MEV, and the MEV will perform a series of tests while docked. Intelsat will continue to coordinate operations with other satellite operators throughout the docking phase.

Following this proof of concept, Galaxy 25 will be fully decommissioned consistent with the Orbital Debris Mitigation Plan submitted by Intelsat and previously approved by the Commission in connection with Galaxy 25’s commercial authorization.

Intelsat agrees toaccept the same orbital debris obligations that currently apply to the Galaxy 25 spacecraft as a condition of the requested experimental license. To the extent there is any delay with the proposed docking with the MEV, Intelsat will decommission the satellite prior to docking as needed to comply with the previously approved Orbital Debris Mitigation Plan.
Click to expand...
 
https://twitter.com/x/status/1908367383242084849
View: https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1908367383242084849


On 2020 Feb 25 the Northrop Grummann MEV-1 spacecraft docked with the Intelsat 901 sat in GEO and provided it with five extra years of propulsion and power at the 27.5 West location. On Mar 31 to Apr 3 it boosted Intelsat to the GEO graveyard and has now apparently undocked
Click to expand...
Northrop Grumman press release on MEV1/IS-901 undocking. It also notes that MEV2 will remain docked to IS-10-02 for four more years.

https://news.northropgrumman.com/news/releases/northrop-grumman-achieves-first-ever-undocking-between-two-commercial-
 
On a related note. Different company, same idea.

Space: Private mission to save NASA space telescope will launch in 2026 on a rocket dropped from a plane [Nov 19]

Northrop Grumman already had the rocket hardware for this coming mission pretty much ready to go, according to Kurt Eberly, director of space launch for the company.

The Pegasus XL will launch in June 2026, if all goes according to plan. And there's not much wiggle room in that target, considering how quickly Swift is coming down.

"We are treating this launch date as a firm commitment," Kieran Wilson, vice president of technology at Katalyst, told Space.com. "We'll kind of continuously evaluate where Swift stands in its orbital decay and figure out what sort of adaptations we might need to pursue, whether it's launching to a different altitude, whether it's targeting slightly different insertions."

The Katalyst spacecraft will head to an orbit similar to that of Swift, then spend two to three weeks closing in on the observatory. The boost vehicle will inspect its target "from reasonable standoff distances, to allow us to get high-resolution imagery and understand the current state," Wilson said.

Once that state is understood, the rescuer — which is about 4.9 feet (1.5 m) tall and weighs 770 pounds (350 kg) — will close in and capture Swift using its three robotic arms.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
SAT-STA-20251202-00351 [Jan 2]

Space Logistics, LLC requests special temporary authority for a period of 180 days to perform telemetry, tracking, and command operations (TT&C) to (1) undock the MEV-1 spacecraft from the Optus D3 space station at the 156°E.L. orbital location; (2) drift the MEV-1 spacecraft from the 156° E.L. orbital location to the 141° W.L. orbital location; and (3) stationkeep MEV-1 at the 141° W.L. orbital location.
Click to expand...
 
Back
Top Bottom